


I'll go

by TheSkyBird



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: AU, Kinda, M/M, Naga, Naga Deceit Sanders, One Sided Logicality - Freeform, One-Sided Attraction, background dukexeity, blacksmith Virgil, definitely not slow burn, moceit was supposed to be the only main ship but now it's evened out with logience, set in a time of no electronics, slight stockholm syndrome, techinally a human au, the logince is gonna hurt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:21:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23912971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSkyBird/pseuds/TheSkyBird
Summary: Patton learns that the village he has recently moved to is threatened by a powerful Naga.So to protect the people he cares about, Patton makes a deal with the Naga.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders/Deceit Sanders
Comments: 39
Kudos: 132





	1. A Beautiful Sacrifice

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining bright in the sky, and the birds were chirping happily, so Patton could not even begin to figure out why the entire town looked extremely upset and anxious that morning.

Everyone was gathered in the town square chatting nervously. Some families were huddled together protectively, young children were held close by their parents, and some of the older ones were crying from what could be assumed to be fear.

As he attempted to make his way to the front of the crowd to find out what was going on, Patton overheard many people crying, and some whispers saying “who will it be this time?” and “I don’t want to go!” All kinds of phrases of this sort, which caused Patton to begin to worry.

He finally pushed his way to the front and looked around to try and spot the source of everyone’s distress, but couldn’t find it.

“Patton!”

He looked to his right and saw Roman waving at him from the other side of the crowd.

Patton had known Roman since they were children growing up together. They had been very close, but then Roman’s family had moved away when he and Roman were about 12, and Patton hadn’t seen him for years. They finally reunited when Patton moved to this village almost six months ago. It was quite a shock to Patton to see him again, and he was very happy to see that Roman hadn’t changed much since they were younger. Still as adventurous, and charming as ever.

Patton quickly walked over to Roman and gave him a hug, which the other returned happily.

Even though Roman was smiling, Patton could tell by how tightly Roman was holding him, that he was affected by whatever was happening in the town as well.

Patton pulled away, and took a step to the side, but turned to look Roman in the eye.

“Roman, I need you to tell me why the whole town is acting strange. Please! Everyone seems upset, and I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t know why. Did something bad happen?”

Roman looked at him with surprise and confusion evident in his features, before a moment of realization hit him.

“Ohh. Oh Pat, I’m sorry. No one told you abou-“

“No one died did they?!” Patton interrupted, fear beginning to take over.

“No! No one died,” Roman said placing his hands on his shoulders reassuringly, “nothing bad happened, at least not yet, he continued casting his eyes downward.

Patton was more confused now then before. What was going on?

“Roman, what do you mean by that?”

Roman looked at him sadly, and sighed, “I’m sorry Pat. I should have told you about this when you moved here, but I was just so excited to see you again that I forgot about it for a while.”

“Wha-“

“It’s the Naga.”

Patton’s eyes widened in surprise. A Naga? Wasn’t that the mythical snake? And what did that have to do with anything?

“Roman? What Naga? I thought they weren’t real?”

“Oh they’re real Pat,” Roman said, his voice beginning to shake slightly, but not enough to be noticeable by anyone who didn’t know him as well as Patton, “and this town is the target of a very powerful one. Twice a year the Naga comes from the forest to the west edge of the town, and takes one towns person as a sacrifice. We never know who it will be, but the Naga always asked for the person who is the most beautiful in the town.”

Now it made sense to Patton why he didn’t know about this Naga, having moved here probably soon after someone was taken, but it sickened Patton to think of innocent people being taken hostage, so he dared to ask “what does the Naga do with the people he takes?”

Roman shook his head, “no one knows for sure Patton, but they’re called sacrifices, and none of them have ever returned, so it’s assumed they’re either eaten, or killed in some horrible way.”

Patton shuddered at the thought, and hesitated a moment before speaking, “is there nothing to be done to stop the Naga from taking someone?”

Roman shook his head and looked at the ground sadly.

“I wish there was, but unfortunately there isn’t.”

Patton placed his hand on Roman’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, trying to find the words to match.

“Maybe we could-“

“IT’S HERE!”

A shout came from the crowd, causing Patton, Roman, and the rest of the crowd to look towards the forest, and see the Naga slithering out from it.

A hush fell over the crowd as everyone seemed to watch the Naga, mesmerized by its movements. 

Patton could understand why everyone was afraid of this creature. It’s long serpent tail stretched for what seemed like at least fifteen feet, covered almost entirely in black scales, except for the underside which was a bright yellow that shone in the sunlight like gold.

As it drew close to the edge of the crowd, it rose up on its tail, almost towering above them. 

What surprised Patton the most though was that the top half of the Naga looked surprisingly more human than he expected.

Minus the split pupil, and scales on the left side of his face, the Naga had somewhat pale skin, and his right eye was a deep brown, his short brown hair covered part of his forehead, and he wore a small black cape with a yellow trim that wrapped around his shoulders and clasped in the front with a small gold chain, and his hands were covered by yellow gloves.

Patton was so in awe, that he almost didn’t notice when the Naga began to speak.

“Do not be afraid villagers. I am not here to harm you all, and I will not do so, so long as you have chosen who you shall send from amongst you,” the Naga spoke, voice calm and almost relaxing to listen to, but Patton knew that this creature was horrible from what Roman had told him.

“Well,” the Naga continued, “who is the most beautiful amongst you? Step forward.”

No one did.

Instead the villagers began whispering nervously to each other, which soon escalated to them all pointing fingers, and claiming that certain people were the most beautiful, and themselves were not.

“Take Jane! She has the most beautiful hair!”

“I heard Henry say how beautiful his reflection was!”

“Certainly I am not the most beautiful, but my neighbor is!”

Patton stared at the villagers in disbelief. How could they so easily place others in harm's way like this?

The Naga sighed, and was beginning to look annoyed, “if you cannot choose I will have to take drastic measures against you all.”

The crowd went silent again at the threat, until one person from the back pointed to the front and shouted “take Roman! He is the most beautiful out of everyone here, and it’s surprising you didn’t take him sooner!”

Patton looked away from where the voice had spoken, and turned to see Roman pale at the thought of being taken.

The Naga lowered himself to be eye level with Roman and leaned in to get a better look.

“Is this true? Are you really the most beautiful?”

Roman shuddered in fear, but quickly took a breath to composed himself to try and speak.

“Yes, I-“

“Wait just a moment!” Patton interjected.

The Naga snapped his neck at the sound to face where Patton had stood.

“What’s this? Do you wish to claim yourself as the most beautiful amongst you?” The Naga asked starting Patton directly in the eyes, making him flatter slightly, the courage to speak from before fading slowly.

“No, there is not doubt in my mind the Roman is the most beautiful person here,”

“Pat-“ Roman began to speak warningly in a way that said this wasn’t helping.

“But you shouldn’t judge people just based on their beauty! Roman may have good looks, but he also has a kind heart and that makes him beautiful as well. And plenty of the villagers here are like that as well. So to pick someone just based on their physical appearance alone is unfair!”

Roman and the villagers stared at Patton in shock. All of them were silent and unmoving, holding their breaths to see what would happen.

“Well then,” the Naga said after a few moments, “isn’t this an unexpected turn of events. You’re a strange one villager. You have stood up for your friend, and your village, while everyone else tried to practically sell each other to me. Why?”

“I don’t want to lose one of my best friends.”

Patton looked over and gave Roman a small smile, to which Roman responded with one, snapping himself out of his shock.

The Naga cleared his throat, regaining Patton’s attention, “It is now clear to me that you are the most beautiful here, so I will take you this time, strange villager.”

“You don’t need to take me anywhere, I will go with you willingly,” Patton responded, earning gasps and whispers from the villagers.

The Naga was clearly taken aback by this, but smiled, “alright then, let’s g-“

“On the condition that you never bother this village again, and stop taking people away from here.” 

The Naga’s eyes widened, as did everyone’s in the village. No one had ever dared to negotiate with the Naga. 

It was Roman who finally broke the silence.

“Pat please, you don’t have to do this. The village has been fine going on like this since before you came. You don’t need to sacrifice yourself for-“

“It’s a deal.”

The whole village stared at the Naga in disbelief as he spoke up again.

“You will come with me strange one, and in return I will not bother or take anyone from this village again.”

Patton nodded taking a small step forward, “deal.”

The Naga whipped the end of his tail out from behind him, and grabbed Patton with it, the action scaring the villagers to back away.

“Pat!” Roman cried out, running towards him, as Patton was lifted into the air as the Naga quickly slithered away.

Roman attempted to chase after them, but tripped over a rock in the path, and fell to the ground.

He began to rise, and looked up to see Patton smile at him one last time just before he disappeared with the Naga into the forest.

“PATTON!!”


	2. The Flame in the Cavern

Cold.

That was what Patton felt.

He opened his eyes slowly, as a wave of consciousness washed over him.  
He felt the coolness of stone beneath him, pressing along his back side. He moved to a sitting position, using his hands to help push himself up. A slight wave of dizziness struck Patton for a moment from having sat up a bit too quickly, but he recovered quickly and looked at his surroundings.

The uneven brownish-grey stone walls and floor were a dead giveaway that he was in the center of a cave. There was only one point of exit or entry, but it appeared to be a dark tunnel, and it was probably not a good idea to run over there quite yet. There was also a small fire burning within a circle of rocks a few feet away from him.

Patton shifted over closer to the fire for warmth, that was not provided from the cool stone or air.  
Once close enough to warm up, he began to try and recall how he ended up here.

Everyone in town was gathered and upset, he talked to Roman, the Naga showed up-

Oh.

The memories started flooding back of how he had stood up to the Naga, had offered to go with him as the sacrifice, and the Naga had grabbed him with his tail and must have carried him here.  
He must have blacked out at some point, cause Patton could not remember the way here, or even being left in this cave.  
Now that he thought about it, it was strange that he was still alive.  
Hadn’t Roman said that the past sacrifices were never heard from again? Most likely they were dead? So why was he still alive?

“You’re awake.”

Patton was distracted from his racing thoughts at the sound of a voice. He turned around to look to see the Naga near the entrance to the tunnel he had seen before.  
After processing the Naga’s sudden presence, Patton finally nodded to acknowledge that he had heard what he said.  
The Naga slithered closer towards him to stop less than a foot in front of him, and lowered down until they were at eye level with each other.  
After a few moments of silence the Naga finally spoke, “Name?”

“What?” Patton asked, confused.

The Naga sighed, “what is your name, human? I was under the belief that humans were given names as well as most creatures, so tell me yours.”

“Ohhhh, my name’s Patton.”

If anyone else were taken, they probably would have been wary of just giving the Naga information of any kind, but Patton’s calmness about just saying this, threw the Naga off for a moment.

“What’s your name?” Patton asked, deciding that for now politeness was the best course of action, until he could figure out what the heck he was going to do.

The Naga was taken aback by this, “you want to know my name? How are you so calm right now? Why are you not afraid of me?”

“I am afraid of you, but I told you my name, so isn’t it fair for you to tell me yours?”

The Naga was stunned to say the least. Normally the humans were cowering in fear at this point, and would only scream or cry. Maybe this human really was different.

“I see no point in giving you my name.”

“Please? Otherwise what would I call you? Naga? Mr. Naga? Nagy? Na-“

“Ok fine I’ll tell you, but please just shut up!”

Patton closed his mouth mid rant, and nodded.

“It’s Janus,” the Naga said, sounding a little unsure of sharing this information, “Keep in mind, I am only telling you this because I know that you will never get the chance to ever tell anyone else, but in case you ever do, the name is Deceit to who ever you may attempt to tell.”

Patton shuddered at that, but attempted to maintain his composure.

“Alrighty Janus!” Patton almost reached out his hand right then and there to offer a handshake, but thought better about it after noticing the cold glint in the snake’s eyes.  
Janus rose up, and turned to the passage he had just entered from, and we about to leave when Patton called out-

“Wait!”

Janus turned to stare at him, a hint of confusion, but intrigue over taking his features.

“What is it?”  
Patton stares back for a moment, unsure himself what prompted him to call out.

“I.... why haven’t you killed me?”

They two stared at each other for a moment, before Janus spoke up, “because you actually seem promising, and might actually be different from the others, but only time will tell if that’s true. I’ll be back later to check on you again. Do not leave this cave.”

Then Janus turned and left, leaving Patton with just as many questions as he’d had before.

All he could really tell, was that he would live, at least for now, but he wasn’t sure if he’d ever see his friends or the town again.  
Maybe if he kept hoping and did what Janus said, he could one day, but for now he stayed where he was, huddled by the fire for warmth, not daring to even go near the exit, let alone try to leave.


	3. Enter the Blacksmith's

Roman was stressed.

Although maybe that was an understatement.

He not only watched his childhood friend get taken away by that awful creature just two days ago, but he watched him literally offer himself in place of Roman, or anyone else in town.

Yet no one else seemed to care!

Everyone in town just went about their life as normal, which was the normal lifestyle when the Naga showed up, but this time was different! Moo

Patton had stood up to the Naga. He’d been brave and did what no one else had dared to do! Even if no one was a hundred percent certain that the Naga truly wouldn’t show up again, it was still a brave thing that Patton did.

But Patton didn’t deserve to be taken, and possibly killed by the hands of that foul villain, and the townspeople were not worthy of his kindness and sacrifice.

They should be going to try to save Patton after what he’d done for them!

Wait-

That’s it!

* * *

“VIRGIL!”

A startled scream, and the sound of metal clanging on the ground was the response Roman got as he had burst through the door.

“Haven’t you ever heard of knocking, princey?”

Virgil tried to quickly regain his composure, and began picking up the tools he had knocked over in his flailing.

“Or better yet, coming through the door like a normal person?!”

Roman looked at him apologetically, forgetting how easy it was to startle the blacksmith at times.

“Sorry, but I promise it’s for an important reason this time!”

“So the tree incident wasn’t important then?”

“That was one time!”

“One time, that happened twice more within the same month.”

“I- Ugh! Never mind that right now! This is serious!” Roman said, making his way over to lean against the wall near the back of the shop, as Virgil moved to put the tools he was carrying back on their shelves.

“Does this have something to do with the Naga the other day?” Virgil asked, sighing, already used to Roman’s rants about the Naga, and how terrible it was.

“Yes, but this time is different, Verge! He took-“

“I’m baaaaaack!~”

Both Roman and Virgil turned to face the doorway at the all too familiar voice.

Roman groaned, annoyed at the interruption, but couldn’t help a small smile from escaping.

“Hey Remus,” Virgil said, watching as Remus made his way from the doorway to sit on the workbench in front of him.

Remus opened his bag and pulled out a jar of a dark red substance, and placed it on the workbench, before leaning over and placing a kiss on Virgil’s cheek.

Normally Roman would have either rolled his eyes or ‘awed’ at the gesture, but he was more concerned by the contents of the jar.

“Is that-“

“One jar of the blood of my enemies!” Remus finished his sentence, grinning proudly as he gestured his hand at the jar to show it off.

“Lovely.” Roman said, as he tried not to gag, and look anywhere but the jar of blood.

“Where are you wanted this time?” Virgil asked casually, as he picked up the jar.

“Small town, other side of the valley.” Remus responded as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“How much are they offering?”

“1,000!”

“Really? That much?”

“Yeah! It’s awful! I’m worth so much more than that!” Remus pouted.

“I know you are,” Virgil answered, rolling his eyes, but unable to keep the smile off his face at his fiancé’s usual antics.

“What’s the blood for?” Roman finally dared to ask, not sure if he actually wanted to know the answer.

“He wants me to make a sword for him out of the literal blood of his enemies,” Virgil said, as he walked to place the jar on a stool in the corner of the room.

“I told him that if he actually managed to get enough blood, I would do it.”

“And I did!~” Remus exclaimed in a sing-songy voice as he examined a couple of throwing knives by the window.

Roman nodded his head, deciding it was definitely better to not further question his twin on the matter.

“Anyway, back to the important thing!”

“Ah yes, the Naga,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes.

“It took Patton!”

Both Virgil and Remus turned to stare at Roman in shock, before they both started talking at once.

“No way!”

“Why him?”

“He hasn’t even been here long!”

“I mean someone was going to be taken anyways.”

“Yes but why Patton?!”

“He stood up to him!” Roman interjected, causing the others to look at him confused.

“Wha-“

“The Naga asked his usual ‘who’s the most beautiful’ question, and everyone started pointing fingers, before someone called out me, and the Naga approached me with the intent that it would be me this time, but then Patton stopped him. He stood up to the Naga, and talked about how he shouldn’t judge people on their looks, and then the Naga said he was the most beautiful, and Patton said he’d go with him willingly, as long as the Naga never bothered the town again!”

Silence filled the room, as the weight of everything Roman said sunk in.

Virgil sighed, and then broke the silence, “so let me guess, you want me to somehow make you a really strong weapon that you can use to slay the Naga, and save Patton?”

“More or less so yes,” Roman said with a sheepish look, starting to realize that he was easier to read than be thought.

“But isn’t it good that he went willingly?” Remus chimed in, “the whole ‘leave the village alone thing’? Wouldn’t it be better for everyone if he stayed then? Cause what if the Naga breaks the deal if you take Patton back?”

“Do you really think that monster is going to keep the deal in the first place?” Roman responded angrily to his twin.

“We have no way of trusting the Naga to actually keep his word, so we might as well go and save Pat before it’s too late!” Roman paced the room as he spoke.

“Also it seems like no one in this town has even acknowledged the sacrifice Pat made for them after not knowing them for long! They don’t deserve his kindness!”

“Fine,” Virgil said, “I’ll do it princey, but on two conditions.”

“Anything.”

“One, you don’t go rushing into things, and go scout out where Pat is first, if he’s still alive,” everyone in the room grew rigid from that thought, “second, you’re not going alone.”

“Alright!, but who’ll go with me? Remus?”

“Sorry I need to rest here, before I head out of town for a couple days after tomorrow,” Remus responded, mindlessly twirling a dagger around in his fingers.

“Virgil?” Roman turned to face him.

“I’m already helping you prepare, you’re not dragging me along as well,” Virgil stated, “why don’t you ask Logan? He’s getting home today, and probably hasn’t heard what happened yet. He’ll probably be devastated when he does, and will be likely to wanna bring Patton home. Plus he’ll be able to keep you from making any rash decisions while searching.”

Roman thought this over to himself for a moment, and as much as part of the reasoning as to why Logan would help hurt, he knew it was the best option.

“Yeah! I’ll stop by his house later to break the news, and see if he’s willing to help!”

“Alright, you better get out of here then so I can start working on the stuff you need,” Virgil said, moving to shoo Roman towards the door.

After he was out the door, Remus finally spoke up again, “ah yes, send Roman with the guy he’s crushing on, who is actually crushing on Patton, to go and save Patton together. Great idea!”

“I know, I know. This probably isn’t going to be easy for Roman, but what other choice is there? He’s the one who wants to save Patton, and logically Logan is the best person to go with him,” Virgil locked the door, and made his way over to where Remus stood.

“The poor idiot’s just gonna end up trapping his feelings deeper and deeper,” Remus shook his head. If it were anyone else he would probably be laughing at all the drama of this, but as it was his twin, he felt some sympathy for him.

Virgil sighed, and leaned his head on Remus’ shoulder, as he wrapped his arms around him, “I just hope this will all work out. Now can we just go upstairs? I wanna spend some time with you before you go to anger another village in a couple days, and come back without your head or something.”

“Oooooo, that would be fun! Imagine if I could actually make it back here like that!” Remus exclaimed as the two of them headed for the stairs.

“No it would not be fun, please don’t actually lose your head,” Virgil said laughing lightly, trying to push his worries out of his mind at least for tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had way too much fun writing this chapter!!  
> Also I'm stuck between one of two ways I want the next chapter to go.   
> Cause I have two possibilities for what happens next, both things will happen in the story, but the problem is deciding which is first.


	4. Surprisingly berry kind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter take place starting back after chapter 2.

He couldn’t tell how long he’d been sitting by the fire, but Patton knew it must have been a couple hours. His stomach had started grumbling a while ago, so he knew a lot of time passed.

Maybe this was how all the previous sacrifices-..... people, died. From starvation.

His stomach grumbled again loudly.

Thinking about the need to eat was clearly not going to help his situation.

Patton tried to think of anything else to try and distract himself, but it was hard to find things to think about.

He looked around the room trying to find anything he didn’t already see that could help him take his mind off things, but the cave was as empty as can be except for the fire and the entrance.

Patton tried to focus on the entrance too much though, since Janus had said not to leave.

Although he didn’t say anything about having to stay in one spot.

Patton slowly pushed himself to stand up, slightly sore from having been sitting for so long.

He stretched when he stood up, and slowly began walking around the room. There wasn’t much point to doing this, besides for stretching and not getting too sore from sitting.

His mind went back to trying to figure out how long he’d been in the cave. It was difficult though, since he didn’t know how long he’d been unconscious for earlier.

It’s possible that it was still the same day since that morning he’d been taken, but it could also be the following day.

It could have been longer than that, but that didn’t seem too likely for some reason.

“Enjoying the space?”

Patton jumped in surprise, turning to see Janus in the entrance way. How did he keep not hearing him approaching?

“It’s ok? Nice? I guess it’s good that since there’s not much in it, it’s less likely to get messy,” Patton replied.

“Hmm, that’s one way to look at it I suppose,” Janus said as he made his way over to Patton.

When he reached him he held out a small satchel towards Patton, to which Patton just stared at in confusion.

“Uhh?”

“Humans eat correct?”

“Yes?”

“Then take it,” Janus said as he shoves the satchel into Patton’s hands, “I can’t have you dying on me yet.”

Patton carefully opened the satchel slightly and saw some berries, and edible greens inside.

There goes the starvation idea.

Janus made his way over to the fire and lowered down next to it, his tail coiling behind him.

Patton made his way to sit down opposite the Naga, by the fire.

He reached into the satchel and pulled out a handful of berries.

“These aren’t poisonous are they?”

“No, I said I needed you alive.”

“Ok,” Patton said as he popped the berries into his mouth.

Janus looked at him and smirked, “you do realize you have no idea whether I’m telling the truth or not right? Those very well could be poisonous.”

“No, I know you weren’t lying,” Patton said, as he continued eating some more of the berries.

“How so?” Janus looked at him skeptically.

“I work with plants and berries all the time! I know which ones are, and aren’t poisonous. So I asked just to see if you would tell the truth if I asked,” Patton said smiling, then he reached the hand with the satchel over to the Naga, “want some?” He offered.

Janus was stunned. Maybe this human was smarter than he thought, and he also seemed nicer than the others.

He reached his hand into the satchel and took out two berries, “thank you. Although I must admit that you are very strange. How do you know this won’t be all I give you to eat? How can you just offer the only sustenance you have?”

“Well, I find it’s nicer to not eat alone, so I don’t mind sharing. Also you were nice enough to bring me these, so I might as well return the favor, even just a little bit.”

“You are too trusting.”

“Maybe. But is that always a bad thing?” Patton asked, plopping one last berry into his mouth, and then closing the satchel to save the rest.

“No, but if you’re not careful it could get you killed.”

“But it hasn’t yet.”

Janus sighed.

Patton was definitely the nicest, but also most naive human he had ever met. Which made him all the more promising, and interesting.

“By the way,” Patton spoke up, bringing Janus out of his thoughts, “would you be able to tell me how long I’ve been here? I know you probably won’t, but I figured I might as well ask.”

“It is still the same day since this morning,” Janus said, thankful this wasn’t one of the typical human questions of being let go, “however it is almost nightfall now.”

“Oh ok.”

They sat in silence for a few moments before Patton yawned, reaching his hand up to try and cover it.

“Sorry, just tired. Think I’ll try to get some sleep now if you don’t mind.”

“No, go ahead. You need rest,” Janus said, as he rose up, and made his way to the entrance, “if you need anything just call for me.”

Patton smiled a little at that.

“Alright, good night Janus.”

Patton said as he tried to lay down comfortably on the cold floor near, but not directly next to the fire, turning to face away from the entrance, and the light, then put his glasses down next to him.

Janus looked back over his shoulder and frowned, “good night.”

* * *

When Patton woke up, he was pleasantly surprised.

Even though he was still lying on the cold floor, there was an unexpected warmth above him. It took a few moments for him to process why he wasn’t freezing. He felt something soft draped over himself, and as he became more aware of his surroundings, he realized it was a blanket.

Patton reached for his glasses, and adjusted them on his face.

The blanket itself seemed a little old and wearing out, but it had a soft, faded, grayish blue color to it, and was thick enough to be warm under.

He stared at the blanket, unsure whether to be confused or thankful as to how it got there.

Obviously Janus must have put it there, since it seemed like he was the only other person here, but as to why he would have done that was a mystery.

To anyone else, it might have seemed like a trap, or a way to lure them into a false sense of security, but to Patton it seemed like Janus was really not so bad, and actually wasn’t a monster like everyone in town thought.

Later that morning, or at least what felt like later, Janus made an appearance in the cave.

He was surprised to arrive and find Patton lying on his stomach, legs kicking in the air rhythmically, and a small smile on his face, as he traced his finger in shapes on the ground, somehow leaving behind visible red markings, despite not having anything to draw or paint with.

“What are you doing?”

Patton looked up, not expecting the sudden appearance, but didn’t seem too dazed by it.

“I’m just painting a bit. Kinda got bored,” Patton said, slightly shrugging, but unable to completely since his arms were propping him up.

“I can see that,” Janus said, slithering over to the human, and lowering in front of him, “but what are you painting with?”

“Oh, I squeezed some of the leftover berries to use the juice as paint. Not a lot of paint though, since I ate most of the berries for breakfast.”

“That’s nice,” Janus said, slightly awestruck by Patton’s attitude towards his entire situation, and then muttered more to himself than to Patton, “you’re different from the other humans.”

Patton curiously turned his head to the side curiously, “how so?”

Janus looked him in the eyes, “yesterday, you said you were afraid. However, in the time you’ve been here so far, you have shown no signs of it, and rather than cry, or complain, or cower, or try to stay away from me, or try to escape, you have done none of these things. Instead you’ve spoken with me multiple times, and have remained relatively calm. Why is that?”

Patton thought for a moment. Janus was right, his behavior was odd in his situation, but not out of place in what Patton believed.

“Because I’d like to give you a chance,” Patton replied, “if you had wanted to kill me, or torture me, or something else bad, you easily could have done so already. I’ve been trapped here, and rather than act like the monster everybody says you are, you’ve only been kind. You brought me food, and put a blanket over me in the night, and kept the fire going. To me it seems more like you just wanted some company.”

Whatever answer Janus was expecting, that was not it. Was it really possible for a human to actually be nice like this? And perhaps he had underestimated Patton’s intelligence a bit, because he had almost hit the nail on the head.

“That is... I... you are not entirely wrong about the reason as to why I haven’t killed you, but let me make one thing clear,” Janus rose up, hover over Patton, “if you’re calm, and politeness is just an act, I will not hesitate to kill you. I have hope for you, that the way you act is genuine, but I learned long ago not to trust others too easily.”

Patton shuttered a little from Janus’ cold gaze, but remained calm, and nodded, “I understand. And I’m willing to stay here as long as possible to keep you company if loneliness is the problem.”

They stared at each other for a moment longer, neither sure what to say.

Janus turned and went to the entrance of the cave but paused before leaving.

He looked back over his shoulder and said, “I’ll be back soon with some more food for you,” then turned and left the cave.

Patton smiled, and went back to his berry paintings. 


	5. All that Matters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to the present, aka where chapter three ended.

Roman stood nervously in front of the door to Logan’s house.

He hoped that he was actually home this time, since every time he stopped by within the past few hours, Logan had yet to return.

This had given him plenty of time to think over everything.  He wasn’t going to change his mind about saving Patton, that was his number one priority.  However, he wasn’t so certain anymore about bringing Logan with him, solely for the fact that he knew Logan had a crush on Patton. 

It had hurt when Logan had told him about it, and had made Roman promise to never tell Patton about it. Roman had agreed of course.

After all, he was already keeping his own crush on Logan a secret, so what was one more to hide?

No matter how much it hurt Roman, that despite all his efforts previously to win Logan’s affection, the moment Patton moved to town it all went down the drain.

Roman wouldn’t get in the way though. Even if he was in pain, he’d much rather see Logan happy than get what he wanted for himself. Besides if Logan was happy, he would be happy with that.

He knocked on the door, ready to turn around and head home again, and try again later, but this time the door opened.

“Hello-“

“Logan!”

Roman pushed his way through the door, as Logan backed away already having expected this the moment he realized who was at the door.

“Hello Roman, and what is it that has made you decide to burst into my house today?”

“It’s actually something really important this time,” Roman said as he made his way over to the couch, motioning for Logan to follow, “it’s about the Naga visit from two days ago, while you were out of town.”

They each sat down on the couch, turning slightly to face each other though.

“Who was taken?” Logan asked jumping right to the point, slightly unnerved by the fact that this is why Roman came over. Logan was used to hearing him rant about how unjust and dastardly it was for the Naga to take people, but this time sounded more serious.

Roman took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and spoke, “Patton. It took Patton.”

Roman could see the emotions flash in Logan’s eyes, from shock, to sadness, to anger, within a few seconds.

“Why?” Was all Logan could manage to say while trying to remain calm.

“Patton volunteered himself... instead of me. The Naga was originally going to take me, but Patton stepped in, and said he’d go willingly if the Naga left the village alone for good.”

Logan sat there in thought for a moment, processing what he was told before speaking, “that was very brave, but also somewhat stupid of Patton. The likelihood that the Naga will actually stay true to his word is very low, and Patton might have just risked his own life for nothing.”

“Exactly! So I asked Virgil if he could make me a weapon to go fight that monster, and he said he would if you went with me,” Roman said as he glanced at Logan, his hands fidgeting with the edge of his shirt, hoping that Logan would agree to this plan.

After a few moments of being lost in thought Logan spoke, “I’ll go with you.”

Roman’s eyes lit up with excitement, before Logan continued, “but we shouldn’t rush in to try and fight the Naga. Instead we should come up with a plan for tomorrow to go and seek out where the Naga is keeping Patton, and first find out if he’s even still... alive.”

“Right...” Roman nodded his head, but paled at the thought that his best friend might be dead.

The two sat in silence for a moment, both worrying over the unnerving thought of Patton’s death.

“Well,” Logan began as he stood up, “thank you for coming over and telling me all this.”

“No problem, and thank you for agreeing to go with me.”

Roman got up and began to make his way to the door.

“I should head out n-“

“Roman?”

Roman turned back around, “yeah?”

Logan hesitated before speaking in a soft, and somewhat wavering voice, “what... what if he’s gone?”

Roman’s eyes widened, not because of the idea, but because Logan was worried, and letting his true emotions show, even just a little bit.

Without thinking, Roman made his way over to Logan from the door, and pulled him into a hug.

Logan froze, surprised by the contact, but then leaned in to the hug, and wrapped his arms around Roman as well, and pressed his face into his shoulder.

“I’m sure he’s alright,” Roman said, trying his best to reassure his crush, “Patton is stronger than most people give him credit for. He has to be alive.”

“And if he’s not?” Logan mumbled from where his face was buried.

Roman pulled away, and placed his hands on Logan’s shoulders.

“Then we give that horrible Naga a piece of our minds.”

Logan tried to hold back a chuckle, Roman’s behavior and attitude lifting his spirits just a little bit.

“Thanks Roman.”

“Anytime.”

Roman gave him a small smile, and then took a step back.

“Well I really should get going now. I’ll stop by Virgil’s in the morning to see how long it’ll take to make the weapon, and then I’ll come by here and we can plan when to leave. Cool?”

Logan nodded in agreement.

“Alright then, see you tomorrow,” Roman said as he made his way to the door, and walked out, closing it behind him.

As he made his way home, Roman couldn’t help but think back to just moments earlier.

For just a minute Logan had let his guard down, and allowed himself to appear vulnerable in front of Roman, and that made Roman happy. Not happy about how sad and concerned Logan was, but happy that he was comfortable enough to be a bit more open around him.

When Roman got home he went straight for his bed and flopped down, grabbing the nearest pillow by the head board, and bringing it close to hug it.

He could feel the exhaustion from the day weighing on him.

“As long as Patton is safe, that’s what’s important. And as long as Logan is happy that’s all that matters.” Roman mumbled as a reminder to himself before drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got a little too real for me at a certain point, but oh well.


	6. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we’re finally caught up with present time!

“And then he dipped the metal into this big-“

“Are you done yet?” Patton looked up at Janus, startled by the interruption.

“Oh sorry. Was I talking too much?”

Janus shook his head, “no, you weren’t. I’m just tired of hearing you talk about other people. Why don’t you talk about yourself for once?”

The past few days had been interesting for Patton. After yesterday morning with the berry paintings, Janus had come back a while later with more food and the two just sat and chatted for hours. It was strange because Patton was Janus’ prisoner, but Patton just found it so easy to talk to Janus.

They talked for a while, and both had found themselves quite at ease in each other’s company. Also if not for the fact that he was kept in a cave, and not allowed to leave, Janus had treated Patton fairly well. He had brought him food, and blankets, and even managed to find an old pillow, and stayed and kept him company.

Patton thought for a moment, before responding, “well what do you want to know?”

“Anything,” Janus replied, “I want to know more about you. What do you like to do? Any hobbies? Dislikes? Romantic interests? Family?”

“I like drawing, but I think you already know that,” Patton gestured to all the dried berry paintings scattered across the floor, “I enjoy spending time with my friends, and that’s probably why I was talking about them so much. No current romantic interests, and my family died when I was young. I was about thirteen.”

“Oh, I’m sorry... I probably shouldn’t have asked that.”

“No,” Patton shook his head, “it’s alright. You asked a question you didn’t know the answer to, no harm in that.”

“Right.”

They sat in silence for a moment, neither really sure how to proceed.

“Sooo,” Patton spoke, trying to break the tension, “do you live alone here? Besides for me being here currently? Or do you have any friends nearby?”

“No.”

“Oh... so is that why you brought me here?” Patton decided to try and push the subject of Janus’ motives.

Janus looked at him skeptically, deciding on how to answer him. “As I’ve said before, you were close when you guessed that it was due to loneliness, but that is all I will tell you for now.”

“Oh, alright, but will you tell me one day?” Patton questioned.

“If things go well, then yes.” Patton nodded, satisfied for now with Janus’ answer.

Janus got up, and brushed some dirt off of him, and stretched. “It is getting late. I suggest you sleep, you will need your energy tomorrow.”

“Why?” Patton began to gather his blankets together, to do as he suggested.

“I have to go out hunting tomorrow since-.... I don’t normally have humans in my home by the time I need to do this, so I need to bring you with me to make sure you won’t run away,” Janus sighed, not too thrilled with his own plan.

“I see, I will try and get some sleep then. Though if it helps at all, I promise that I won’t run away,” Patton smiled softly.

Janus started at him for a moment in wonder, then his expression darkened. “I appreciate that. Unfortunately, your word is still not enough for me to fully trust you yet,” Janus turned and slithered over to the entrance, and without turning said to him, “Sleep well Patton.”

“You too,” Patton called out softly, as he sadly watched Janus slither out of the cave, once again leaving him feeling cold in the space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was short, but hopefully next chapter will be longer.


End file.
